Silicon Valleys In Russia And Malaysia, Shenzhen, Didi Chuxing, And Wechat

Many countries around the world are aspiring to build their own Silicon Valleys. For example, Malaysia has its Cyberjaya, a town with a science park that was set up by the Malaysian government in May 1997 and is located 30 kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur, the capital. The explicit goal of Cyberjaya was to become the Silicon Valley of Malaysia. Even Russia, not exactly a paragon of entrepreneurship and private enterprise, envisions a Silicon Valley of its own. To this end, the Russian government has established the Skolkovo Innovation Center, just outside Moscow. The Center is a huge high-tech research campus which hosts startups and industry. Very few of these Silicon This or Silicon That, or Cyber North or Cyber South, have succeeded so far, and very few are likely to succeed in the future. The common thread running through the often quixotic efforts of countries around the world to create their own Silicon Valleys is the central role of the government…